Uplift (24 page)

“Thank you Admiral,” I said, but didn’t think he was convinced so I made my hearing more sensitive as they walked away.

“He’s nuttier than a fruitcake. Good lord. Aliens. Snake people,” said the Admiral quietly as he walked off.

“Do you really want my people to pull back sir?”

“Hell yes Colonel. Bring in a battalion with heavier equipment. Your people aren’t ready for a siege, and we may have one here. Did you see when he looked like he was talking with the other voice in his head? That’s some scary shit – he has some god-awful powerful weapons. Who knows what he has? Did you see him cut that desk to pieces?”

“What do you think Captain?” asked the Admiral.

“…not sure what to think sir? Never seen anything like this…” said the Captain. The captain thought this Patterson guy was believable up to the snake people. The desk thing – wish I had one of those…pretty cool. Hate this guy won’t be making us new stuff any more.

                                        
****

Richard walked back to the shuttle knowing that the military not only thought he was a danger for having technology they couldn’t control – he was a screaming nutcase too. He sent a copy of the conversation to Corvette, and talked with Carole for a minute.

I wouldn’t have told them anything, Carole said.

You told Hershel, I said, still hurt by her betrayal.

END RUN

Carole. Corvette. The soldiers are pulling back. It will be 24 hours before they can get enough personnel here to try anything. Under a field we can get almost 30 days of work. I want the WALLUP flightworthy, and stocked. Put a field over everything we have. They might try heavy explosives – I wouldn’t put it past them to use tiny nukes, mini-nukes, or a Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator. We’re pretty isolated here. Finish the WALLUP. Get it crewed with space suits if we have any, and stocked like all get out. Have Corvette order all she thinks we will need, and take everyone to French Guiana – southwest of Cayenne near the port, airport, and highway. Buy land, grease local gendarmerie, and set up a large base there. Then call me because I’m going to try something else.

I went back into the shuttle – you never know with Special Forces guys – they might be able to actually do something to me so I wanted to be inside. Now I’d have to have a long discussion with Corey.

First thing Corey…Get a good team of lawyers, and pay them an excellent contingency fee. Send them a compiled video of all the arrests, and troops around our facilities. Get the public interested. Have Carole pose for some of the shops – her looking scared, and running away. Hire a good marketing company for a campaign. I’ll do that now if you want. We can hit them with all types of restraining orders – won’t mean anything in the end, but it will make them more circumspect.

I sat down, and started to talk myself through the problem.

1. The US military felt I was a huge threat

2. The US could not manufacture the new technology without my facilities

3. The US, and foreign agents were unable to penetrate my companies

4. My employees could not voluntarily release information on new designs after the training modules conditioned them

5. My employees received nanites that kept them healthy, and made them age slower – reversed aging, no cancer, or defects

6. High ranking officials thought I was completely nuts

7. My employees would all be safe for 24-hours

8. We could move to another country, or off Earth if we had to

I needed a plan, and I needed one right away. We could move to some other country, or off Earth. I repeated that to myself, but every time we left Earth orbit we could be detected by the Horde. My employees wouldn’t be ready to move to the Moon, or Mars. It would be inconvenient to supply our needs outside the US. Other drastic measures – ones that didn’t involve mass killings?

I turned to my security detail. “Folks. The military think I’m ‘bug nuts’. They have seized all our technology as too dangerous to be trusted to civilians. They’ve seized all our facilities – even food production. I do not want to start a revolution, and take over this country so I am starting an advertising campaign – throwing lawyers, and media at the public. This is the same public – much of which is dying off with cancer, or through local wars.”

I sighed big, and went on. “You are stuck with me, and hope you will continue to do so. I may move the WALLUP development to a temporary base we will be building in French Guiana. Your nanites will protect you from all diseases there – even HIV,” I said looking right at Mel (he laughed at the innuendo). Workers can set your fields to keep you cool while you work, but we need to get the military pulled back.” I paused because this was a big step. “I think we have to go see the President unannounced, and see if he can do anything. That’s all I’ve got. Ideas? No – thanks. Set up an Echo field around the shuttle, and get eight hours of sleep. We’ll leave in about thirty minutes normal.”

Joey came up to me. “You okay boss. I’m around if you need me – whatever way you need me,” she said.

I smiled, and shook my head. I appreciated the concern.

Corey. Get latest intercepts from the White House – find out where the president will be, and who’s on his security detail – I want to know the names of his Secret Service agents if you can.

Richard. He’s due to leave tomorrow for an extended tour through Europe, and Asia. I have access to his calendar, and the briefing notes. I can change them whenever you say so. I can get you to D.C. unnoticed, and I can see all their security. I can fabricate I.D. cards, and embed your biometric information in all the right places. I can even get you Q-clearance – every file that is electronic – even higher security clearance than top secret with compartmentalized information. Suggest you take two security people with you – I will duplicate their clearances in case. I’ve filled in all their forms, and signed their names from my files. You are on schedule for the last meeting of the afternoon after a recent cancellation. The shuttle can be on stealth mode. Do you want to enter with armor directly, or through the gates in a vehicle?

I want it to be just me. I’d like my two security folks to carry a training module showing all we know about the Horde, how we intend to fight them, and a slate showing the military actions around our facilities. Oh – please prepare training modules in French for Carole’s team. Train me in French if you would, and any interstellar languages you know – they may be extinct, but I’d like to know several. Put them on the training module too.

I will train you, and I’m making modules for you. Take them from the rack on your right. The far right module is for the languages, and the Horde information. It is a little painful. Your training will be VERY painful, so I’m releasing endorphins.
Corey said, and I felt a warm glow infuse through me… right before a very painful data dump with several languages, and their associated contextual explanations.

Do not have the president use that module, I thought.

White House 1600 Pennsylvania Boulevard

The shuttle hovered invisibly over the pavement as Joey, Mel and I dropped down to the pavement. I wore an expensive business suit. Mel, and Joey joined me on invisibility mode. Mel would jump the fence as Joey, and I attempted to pass through the full body turnstile – her on invisibility mode. The turnstile was designed so representatives from the southern states could get through. It wasn’t going to be too much of a problem for the two of us. I walked up to the security post, and presented my IDs that we’d created. The White House protection staff is separate from the Secret Service, and their information said I had an appointment. All my documentation checked out.

Two uniformed officers escorted me to the building entrance, and handed me (us) off to two plainclothes security inside. I held the door open for the uniformed security, but they said they’d meet me on the way out. I thanked them, and noted that Joey, and Mel were with me by using my terahertz vision. The plainclothes guys were wearing body armor, and carried the old P229 Sig Sauer. They approached a little alcove where they had me go through an explosive scanner. They then wanded me several times, and physically frisked me. They did a decent job using one hand pat-gently-then-squeeze, instead of the two-handed ‘miss everything’ search.

They led me to another officer, and my credentials, and appointment were checked against the computer. Two plainclothes agents escorted me past several other manned posts, and to the door of the Oval Office. I stepped in, and President Leech stood up, walked around his desk, and shook my hand.

“I was just reading your file Mister Patterson…very impressive. You’ve supplied us with marvelous new power generators, and have hired tens of thousands of new employees, but what’s this I’ve been hearing about you not cooperating with our military. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Admiral Raymond Detweiler, said you were not being cooperative.”

“Sir. With all due respect – I have been nothing, but cooperative with the US military, but they came in today, and attempted to seize all my assets. They did arrest many of my employees stating that I, we…were a threat to national security. I’ve spent the last few years of my life trying to secure this country above all others. I am sending my partner, Carole Koth, and her team away from this country so she can finish her work. Please review these files at your leisure,” I said, and took a slate that appeared out of the air – since Mel had handed it to me through his field.

The president was pretty cool about it. “So you’re a magician too, I see.”

“Sir…also. You will get a report any time now from Admiral Walt Simpkins saying I am a raving lunatic – I am not. I have a training module,” I said, and turned around, and took the training module, and harness that appeared in the air from Joey. “Sir. Do not use this yourself, as this learning module is painful to take, but it details a threat to this country – to the whole world. It also trains the user in several different languages that may be useful in the future…remember Mister President…someone with a broad military background, and linguistic abilities. Then interrogate them. It’s better if they have advanced mathematical abilities too.”

Corey interrupted.
Looks like the Secret Service just got a partial update on you from the Department of Defense. It was an incomplete threat announcement but you ought to be careful.

I expected to be interrupted here shortly so I said to the president, “I don’t want to waste any more of your time. Do what you can for my people…I appreciate every minute you are in this office,” I said, and shook the president’s hand, which is often not allowed, but I still liked this guy. He had, at least, gotten some bi-partisan plans through Congress in spite of incompetent politicians, and hugely funded lobbyists. I had dumped a lot of money into his campaign coffers, which is probably why I hadn’t been arrested yet. Figured it could happen any moment so I headed for the door at a brisk trot, and saw the president set the module on the desk.

I exited the door just as two agents approached, and started drawing their weapons. I watched with my terahertz frequency vision, and saw Mel step between them, and me. He grabbed one gun, popped it out of the agent’s hand, and jammed it down into his webbing. He then, immediately did the same thing with the other agent’s gun. The guns just disappeared in the agents’ minds since they couldn’t see anyone, and I hadn’t moved.

“Gentlemen. One of you checks that the president is okay, and then we’ll try this again. I had an appointment with the president. We spoke, and then I left – am leaving,” I said. The agents appeared shell-shocked since I hadn’t moved. I saw Joey moving down the hall to intercept any more of their backup, if needed. “I will wait right here sirs, and not move a muscle ‘til you get back.” I did not want this to escalate.

One agent entered the Oval Office, and I listened as he queried the President about my behavior. The president told the agent he was fine, and he was going to turn in for the day. The agent didn’t want to admit that he was disarmed, but didn’t want to declare there was an attempt on POTUS.

“Mister President. What do you want us to do with Richard Patterson? Did he threaten you in any way?” the agent asked, and was getting ready to key the microphone to call for help.

“Are YOU okay Elliott?” the president asked the senior agent. “He had an official appointment, and is one of our biggest supporters. He didn’t threaten me in any way – he was the epitome of decorum. Escort him off the grounds with my compliments. I’ll head to bed after I handle a couple things. Would you send in my chief of staff? Thank you Elliott. I appreciate your concern. That will be all…”

The agent ducked out of the room, and saw that Patterson was standing exactly where he had been. Now he was holding the barrels of the two firearms to hand back to agents. “Please forgive me. I just reacted. Something I learned when I worked for Sigma Max all those years in Asia. You guys were so fast you surprised me. Give me a business address, and I’ll send you two sets of our best BlackArmour to make up for it. God…I’m sorry. It’s been a long day, and I better get the hell out of here, and let your boss get some rest,” I said, and shut up. Saying too much means you’re guilty of something.